Blood Sister
by Void Matrix
Summary: A fic written in the world of Raptor Red. This is the story of Blood Sister, from Hatching to the point that Raptor Red finds her with her second clutch.
1. Blood Born

I was beaten out of the shell, my instincts screamed. Of course, they didn't say those words, nor did I think them. I got vague, barely recognizable concepts and innate images. They made me angry. I went berserk, smashing and straining to get out. I wanted out. I wanted out. I WANTED OUT!!!!   
  
Suddenly the shell of the egg around me cracked and I tumbled out, a little surprised. Light hit my eyes with the pain of a brand, and real air rushed into my lungs, searing. My own muzzle filled my eyes, red as the blood I would come to enjoy. Then I saw my sister. She had beaten me out of the egg. Somehow I was as big as she was despite her obvious advantage. ~ What this...... red........ hunger........ sister...... hunger..... blood? ~ So I called myself Blood Sister. I knew blood, somehow. It was inside me, part of me. I wanted it. My sister snapped at me, hissing. I snarled back, struggling to gain my feet. Instead I tumbled out of my nest and lay there, crying from the fear of being exposed. Suddenly a huge red blotch filled my vision. My nose searched for the familiar scent of my mother. I had smelled her almost constantly for weeks upon weeks, and she was a comfort. It was not the Mother, but a strange, almost the Mother. Like the Mother, but different. ~ Half of my smell, half Sister's smell, not The Mother's smell. Father? ~ And it was. He gently nudged me back to the safety of the nest, where I was contented to stay for the next couple of days as I gained my strength.  
  
The first few days were a blur, and I was as comfortable as could be expected. My sister was my friend, unless there was food involved. The first time our parents brought us regurgitated food, I was more than ravenous. My sister and I snarled and fought over every last scrap, eating until we were full and then just stuffing ourselves. Soon afterwards, the other two eggs in our nest began shaking and we heard strange squeaking and scratching noises. I gently sniffed one, and then nudged it with my nose, and my sister did the same to the other. Suddenly, from under my snout, and single tiny claw broke out of the shell. Squealing in alarm, my sister and I leapt back from the eggs. Quickly enough, two identical males tumbled out of the shells at almost exactly the same time. Looking up at us, I got the impression of a wrinkled brown lump with red splotches and yellow eyes blinking widely. I reached out an authoritative claw and nudged the one closest to me sharply, searching for a reaction. It promptly fell over and began crying, badly frightened. Sister leapt towards it and began snuffling the fallen heap of crumpled reddish-brown leather, crooning under her breath. I looked at her curiously, not understanding why she found it necessary to console the little creature. The other chick struggled silently to push itself up, but it was still so weak it could barely lift its head. When it found it could not stand, it opened its mouth to cry. I was amazed and surprised to see that no sound came out when it did so. The Mother came over immediately and sniffed curiously at the soundless male, and then apparently decided that it was all right. From that day forward, I always thought of my siblings as Silent, Sister, and the other, gentle male, Tame.  



	2. First Blood

With a squawk of outrage, Sister knocked me tumbling out of the nest, then landed on top on me, hissing. I squeaked and rolled abruptly to the side, dislodging her and somehow managing to smack her a solid blow to the side with my tail as I scrambled to my feet. Snarling, she fell over and I squealed in triumph as I pounced for the pin.

Silent chose that moment to arrow down from a nearby dirt mound to knock me from my flight. The rest of the pack had not wanted to accept him when my mother showed him to the rest, but they surely did not want to offend the alpha pair. So Silent lived. And even prospered.

Communication was a problem with Silent, since about 25% of raptor communications were verbal. but he managed, with over-exaggerated body motions and eye contact. It took a while to learn what Silent meant, but he could talk just as well as the rest of us when he wanted. Sister jumped up in the brief respite Silent bought her, and pounced on me, inadvertently knocking Silent flying. The males were so small compared to us, it was a miracle they managed to keep up. Tame could run faster than any of his clutchmates, but he was loath even to play fight and submitted almost before any of us jumped on him. No fun at all, that one.

I snapped at Sister, almost catching her forepaw in my teeth. She jumped back, peeping in surprise. I jumped up and attacked her again, noting the Silent was creeping back to the top of his dirt mound. Sister spun on one foot to smack me with her tail. It would have been a good move, had she not lost her balance and fallen over. I _chirr_edin laughter. Suddenly I caught a familiar and well-loved scent. _Food!_

Mother appeared from the trees nearby, carrying something that was still struggling and kicking. I snorted in surprise, as did Sister, who had stepped up to my side. I think it was a baby Deinonychus, but I wasn't sure. Mother had evidently found it wandering around, because she wasn't scarred by claw marks, and her jaws had not hurt it that much. The creature was about half my size, and its little claws were sharp but not threatening. Mother had crushed one of its rear legs, and now it flopped weakly on the ground where it was dropped. I looked at Sister. She looked at me. We could see the confusion in each other's eyes. Food didn't generally move, and we were not precisely certain what was expected of us. 

I stepped forward, and Sister followed in a step that almost matched mine. Mother stepped back. Silent trailed in an almost wingman position, feinting with his head and bobbing his step, unsure. Tame slunk behind, head and tail low. I reached a cautious muzzle out to nudge the 'nych, and was rewarded with a sharp hiss and a set of tiny claw-marks across my nose. I saw red. Literally. Sister, beside me, was so infuriated that the irises of her cat eyes turned blood red, and she attacked only a second after I did. I grabbed the chick by the neck and shook it as a terrier shakes a rat, splattering blood everywhere. It was big, considering we were both so small, but in my fit of rage it didn't weigh enough to be satisfactorily jerked around. Sister attacked while it was still swinging, and my head was jerked forward as her body carried it forward to the ground where she laded atop it, raking its haunch again and again with her killing claws. I snapped again and again at its neck and shoulders, bringing forth still more blood as the hatchling screamed. Silent dove between my sister and I to land on the 'nych's ribcage, there proceeding to rip away pieces of the ribcage, exposing internal organs as the still pulsated with life. My snout was drawn forward, mouth wide, to snatch away the heart while it was still beating. I champed once and swallowed as the hatchling's cries died away and it became another piece of meat. Tame crept up, slinking, but I bit at him and so did Sister, driving him away. Silent ignored him completely. Tame cringed back, making little _eee eee eee_ sounds of submission. I growled and turned back to my portion of the carcass. Sister shoved Silent and he fell into me, where I snarled viciously at him and he snarled right back, then proceeded to bite at Sister's foreleg until she gave ground. We devoured it, and when I glanced up at Mother I thought I saw a glimmer of cold, calculating pride. I spun around and prowled the area, snapping up stray pieces of flesh while Tame groveled.


End file.
